Percabeth Revolution: Saving the World Could Wait
by malevolentAlchemist
Summary: Percy and Rachel, just a few hours before the beginning of The Last Olympian. A one-shot as part of my participation in the Percabeth Revolution. I hope you enjoy!


_A/N: Thanks for the (few) reviews to my last story. Only three, despite almost 70 times read. But thanks to the few who did review and liked it, and I hope you enjoy my newest Percabeth Revolution one-shot. In protest to the overwhelming amount of overused Percabeth plots and one-shots, I've tried other things. They're not always romance—sometimes just friendship—but I hope that they're enjoyed. Thanks for reading._

_Knight  
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Rachel sat there. And I sat there, too. It was just the two of us, quietly watching the water on the cloudy August afternoon. The surf washed over our toes, and for a while, that had been the only noise. I suppose we could've been doing something else, something _fun_. But this right here, with seemingly no care in the world . . . well, it was nice.

Of course, there was plenty of stuff I could've been worrying about, especially in these times. With just six days until I turned sixteen, I got more and more anxious each day. A prophecy said that on the day that I turned sixteen—August 18—I'd have to make a decision. One that would decide the fate of the world. So, as you can see, I was feeling a little bit of pressure.

Sitting here with Rachel, who had her bright red hair pulled back in a ponytail, and a white blouse covering her swimsuit, I felt at peace. Even though, that in a few hours, I was due to leave on a dangerous, yet necessary mission. I guessed I should just enjoy my free time while I still had it, rather than worrying about the future. If things went badly, I might not have much left.

"This is nice," said Rachel, still looking out at the ocean, though I could see her smiling.

I was going to say, 'That's what I was thinking.' But it sounded kind of corny, and I just ended up saying, "Yeah."

"So, have you thought about my dad's offer?"

I paused. Of course, I'd thought about it. I wasn't sure, though. Her parents were taking a three-day trip to their beach house in St. Thomas. I'd have loved to go if it weren't with the war going on. I honestly wasn't sure what exactly to say, so I simply responded, "I don't know."

"The war?" She frowned, turning to me.

"Yeah." I hated it honestly. There was a good chance that the world as we knew it would be gone by Christmas. And I had so little time. "Kronos could attack at any time, really. We have to be prepared. He could probably just march right into Camp Half-Blood if he wanted to. I doubt he will for a while, but you can never be too sure in times like these." I frowned too. I almost wished that I wasn't the child of prophecy, and that I wasn't in such a mess. Why couldn't I be a regular kid—I mean, besides the whole half-blood thing, you know.

"I guess you're right." She turned back to the ocean. "Though sometimes, I wished it could just wait a summer."

"Me, too." I turned back to look at the road behind us. Paul's Prius sat parked on the side of the gravel road next to the beach.

Despite the fact that I wasn't supposed to turn sixteen for another six days, and I legally didn't have a license, Paul had let me borrow the Prius for a drive by the beach. I guess this could have been classified as irresponsible, but he trusted me, and I wasn't ever really going faster than twenty miles an hour anyway. Nothing dangerous.

The surf hit our feet again, and I turned back to look at Rachel. She honestly looked amazing right now. She looked natural, I guess is how I put it. She didn't wear make-up ever, I knew, but she was attractive anyway. She hadn't noticed that I'd been staring at her for a good ten seconds.

She turned and caught me looking. Frowning again, she said, "Percy, I know this is dangerous and all, and I was wondering. . . . What if you—what if you die on one of these missions? I could lose you. You're . . ." She paused, seeming to look for the word. "You're one of my best friends, Percy. Being who I am, I don't really get many true friends."

I hadn't ever really thought about it that way. I mean, if I died, it probably would mean that Kronos won the war, and that he'd finished off the gods, most likely. I doubted that he'd feel like sparing the mortals more so than demigods.

"I can't even tell you in words how much you've helped us, Rachel. For a mortal, I mean."

"Is it bad to be a mortal?" She sounded almost angry, but when I looked at her, she was grinning.

I looked at her for a moment. "Maybe not always."

Despite that she had to stretch, she put an arm around me and scooted over to pull me into a brief one-armed hug. "Thanks, Percy."

I was as bright red as Apollo's Maserati Spyder was when he'd given the Hunters of Artemis, along with me, Thalia, and a few other demigods a lift a year and a half ago. It seemed like so long since that had been. When worries hadn't been quite as intense as now.

After she pulled away, she looked off at the ocean again. "Well, whether you decide to come to St. Thomas with us or not, you're still my best friend, Percy. Don't forget me when you're all hero-like and saving the world."

I laughed. "I promise I won't," I said.

After another moment, Rachel said, "You think Paul might be worried for us? Or his car? We've been gone nearly an hour now."

"Yeah, I guess we should head back." Standing up, I offered a hand to Rachel, who gladly took it and pulled herself up. As we were walking through the sand back to the Prius, I thought to myself, Maybe saving the world could wait, just a little bit longer.

* * *

_A/N: Okay, like my last one, this one-shot is part of my participation in the Percabeth Revolution, against overused Percabeth plots, and Nico/OC fics, too. Remember, that writing a Percabeth fic isn't necessarily bad, as long as it's done well, and it's original. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading my idea, and I'll probably have more soon. This is really more of a preview of sorts to my writing. Anyway, I appreciate your reviews, and thanks again for reading. I hope you enjoyed._

_Knight_


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